The Frontier Facility (formerly known as Project Development and Risk Mitigation facility) is managed as a separate facility and has a specific mandate set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The facility serves two purposes:
- Enabling early phase project development within Norfund’s investment areas
- Risk mitigation for commercial investors that wish to invest in Norfund funded projects, throughout the project cycle
The Frontier Facility is used for projects with a higher level of risk than those in Norfund’s core portfolio, and for our most demanding markets – in particular fragile states and Least Developed Countries. These projects are therefore managed as a separate facility and are not included in Norfund’s overall portfolio valuation.
Norfund approved two new projects in 2023. The first one is an investment in fertilizer based on green hydrogen in Uganda, together with the partner Westgass. Strong industrial partners have set joint targets for the annual production of 200 000 tons of locally produced fertilizer, which will provide increased income and food security, without the greenhouse gas emissions usually involved in such production. Norfund is initially investing in the project through a convertible loan under the Frontier Facility. The second project is an investment for project development in the Green Infrastructure department.
During 2023, under the Frontier Facility, Norfund also committed EUR 2 million as a convertible loan to Wecyclers Nigeria Limited, a recycling company based in Lagos. The investment in Wecyclers will finance a new plant for the recycling of PET-bottled for use in new bottles locally and in Europe. The plant will be located in Ogun state in Nigeria and have a capacity of 12 000 tons per year.
Frontier Facility portfolio
| Investment | Country | Investment year | Sector | Instrument | Ownership share | Domicile | Committed (MNOK) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katapult Africa Seed Fund | Africa | 2022 | Scalable Enterprises – Funds | Equity | 16.56% | Rwanda | 2.56 |
| NMI FLS valuta guarantee | Southeast Asia | 2021 | Financial Inclusion | Foreign exchange guarantee | 16% | Norway | 20 |
| Lobu Dolum HPP | Indonesia | 2021 | Renewable Energy | Loan | 0% | Norway | 8.52 |
| Antler East Africa Fund I | Africa | 2020 | Scalable Enterprises – Funds | Junior Equity | 10.04% | Cayman Islands | 13.37 |
| Arnergy Solar Ltd | Nigeria | 2019 | Renewable Energy | Equity | 0% | Nigeria | 17.56 |
| Malthe Winje Maresi | Kenya | 2019 | Renewable Energy | Loan | 0% | Kenya | 1.74 |
| FEI – Facility for Energy Inclusion | Africa | 2019 | Renewable Energy | Junior Equity | 2% | Mauritius | 27.54 |
| WeCyclers | Africa | 2023 | Green Infrastructure | Convertible loan | 0% | Nigeria | 23 |